Members of the ETSU Track and Field and Cross Country teams were willing to lend a hand on Saturday.

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (October 2, 2005) - The ETSU men's and women's track and cross country teams recently helped provide a home for a Jonesborough family. The teams spent Saturday morning and afternoon building a house through Habitat for Humanity.

"The project leader has us doing a lot of odds and ends. Some of us are putting siding on the house and others are painting," said junior Anna Marie Ricciardi (Canfield, Ohio). Members of the teams also laid sheet rock, cleaned up debris on the property, and helped build a porch on the front side of the house.

The house, which is being built just past the historic district in Jonesborough, will belong to Allen Miles and his family. "It's hard to believe, really hard to believe," Miles said. "I can't believe that so many people would be willing to help, it's hard to comprehend. It really means a lot".

This is the second year that the ETSU track and cross country teams have worked with Habitat for Humanity. "The students chose Habitat for Humanity," said assistant coach Michelle Byrne, "I think it is really important for them. It's a two-fold thing. The teams normally only workout and train together. This gives them the opportunity to be together socially and to give back to the community".

Terry McNabb, the project leader for Habitat for Humanity, assigned duties and taught team members the basic elements of building, and he also praised the teams for their hard work and their volunteer effort. "It's good to have any volunteers that we can get since we serve so many families in the region."

"As student athletes they have a lot done for them, it's good for them to give back," Byrne said. The student athletes also agreed that it is important for them to give back to the community. "It always feels good to help people out, just to get out in the community and get to know people," Ricciardi said.

The ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics takes pride in its community service activities and strives for 100 percent participation from its student-athletes, coaches and administrators throughout the year.